Aphrodite
by Dying-To-Fit-In
Summary: We all love-or hate-Aphrodite. But what was she like when she was the new fledging? Was she always as hateful, or as confident? Read this to find out more! Please leave reviews, and follow/fave if you like this! (: thank you.
1. Chapter 1-Settling In

**Author's Note:**

This is how I imagine Aphrodite as a new fledging! I hope you enjoy this, and if you do (or even dont) please feel free to leave reviews telling me what you think! They're very helpful as an aspiring writer. Enjoy!

**Chapter One**

**~Settling In~**

"Welcome to the House of Night, Aphrodite LaFont." Neferet smiled, fisting her hand over her heart and giving a small bow.

Formerly, my name had been Beth-Rose. Which, in my opinion, was a hideous name. What my parents were thinking, I had no idea. But since I was about to start a new life as a vampyre, I'd decided to change my name to fit with my best friend's, Venus-she'd been marked a few weeks ago.

"Thank you," I smiled back, copying her strange bow-it seemed to be protocol here. If I was going to make a good name for myself here, I would have to catch onto the strange habits, and fast.

"As High Priestess of the Tulsa House of Night, I would, of course, be here to meet you along with your mentor." Neferet said, leading me throughout the school. "But I see a very promising future in you, and I have to taken it into my own hands to become your mentor."

I studied Neferet out of the corner of my eye. She was beautiful, like all vamps were. Her hair was long and auburn; her eyes were a mossy green and shaped like almonds. I didn't know much about this new life, but I did know that being mentored by the most powerful vampyre in Tulsa was a big deal.

"If," Neferet continued, "you have any questions, I'll be here to assist you. You may seek my guidance at anytime you wish. Do not worry about being a bother." She turned her head to the side and gave me a motherly smile-the kind my mother sure as hell never gave me.

We entered a room that was filled with girls sitting around a flat screen, watching reruns of some reality show I wasn't familiar with.

"This is the girl's dorm. It's a place where you girls can just be regular teenagers, and do whatever it is you girls do." Neferet explained to me kindly, before turning her attention on the other girls. "Ladies, this is Aphrodite LaFont. She's our newest fledging here at the House of Night! I fully expect you all to be welcoming of her, and help her with anything she needs."

The girls chorused their hellos, most not even bothering to take their eyes from the television. I fought back a sigh, and plastered a sickeningly sweet smile, greeting them in return.

"Beth?" Came a voice from the top of the stairs. There was a thumping of someone running down a staircase, and then Venus was standing in front of me, crushing mr against her. "Beth!"

I hugged her back, then pushed her away from me, straightening my blouse. "Actually, it's Aphrodite now." I informed her.

Venus let her gaze fall to my feet, slowly lifting it up my body. "Huh," she said after a moment, "Aphrodite really suits you."

Neferet rested her hand on my shoulder, but was looking to Venus. "Aphrodite will be your new roommate. I feel that it'll be a relief for her to be with a former friend." She explained.

Venus nodded, taking my hand into hers. "I'll help her get settled in. You don't need to worry, I'll take good care of her." She smiled sweetly.

"Thank you, Venus. And blessed be." Neferet again fisted her hand over her heart.

"Blessed be," Venus murmured back before dragging me up the stairs and into our room.

"This is your bed," Venus pointed at it, "and that's you're closet next to it. Your uniforms are in there, which you'll have to wear to dinner."

I opened the closet and look at the uniforms inside, which admittedly weren't too horrible. Selecting one, I brought it into the bathroom to change.

After I shut the door behind me, I looked at myself in the mirror. I felt as though I was looking at a stranger. My hair was still the same, long and blonde. And my eyes were still the same baby blue. But my skin looked paler in contrast to the sapphire outlining of a crescent moon on my forehead. The crescent itself was bizarre to look at.

I began to unbutton my blouse-which was mostly unbuttoned anyway-and slid off my skirt that was almost too short for decency. I replaced my clothing with the uniform of the school and once again looked at myself. I looked even more foreign than before. It would definitely take time to get used to it. But if I made it through the change, I'd have all the time I needed.

When I exited the bathroom, I stuffed my clothes into the closet and plopped myself down on the bed, heaving out a sigh. I was exhausted. Looking over at the clock, I realized it was almost five-in the morning. I felt my eyelids droop, and my body felt heavy with exhaustion.

"Tired?" Venus chuckled.

"A little."

"Hey, everyone here has been through this. Learning to sleep during the day isn't the easiest thing to do, but you'll get used to it. I did."

"Thanks," I yawned, resisting the urge to rub my eye. I didn't want to ruin my makeup, especially not before dinner.

Venus glanced over at the clock. "Let's go eat. I 'll introduce you to my new friends."

New friends? Oh, crap.


	2. Chapter 2-The In Crowd

**Author's Note:**

I'm very sorry for the delay in this chapter. I was experiencing a writer's block. As always, please feel free to leave suggestions, comments, and reviews! Anything constructive and supportive helps! Thank you guys so much.

**Chapter Two**

**~The "In" Crowd~**

"This is the dining hall." Venus informed, leading me into a classy looking room. It was much fancier than a regular school cafeteria, with large oak tables and chairs. I was thankful it wasn't plastic tables covered in graffiti and dirt. I was a fledging, not a filthy beast.

"Is that wine?" I inquired under my breath. It was no secret to Venus that I liked to drink on occasion.

Nodding, Venus whispered, "fledgings are allowed to drink. Our metabolisms speed up, and it doesn't really do anything. It's hard to get more than a little buzz, really."

After we'd gotten our food-some delicious looking spaghetti-Venus sat down in amongst of a group of fledgings, who were insanely good looking. Not that I was jealous, I was much prettier.

"Oh, guys. This is Aphrodite. She was my best friend at our old school." Venus announced, giving me a beaming smile which I returned.

I looked around me, trying to disguise my disappointment. It was my first day, and my supposed best friend couldn't even be bothered to sit next to me? Some welcome wagon this turned out to be.

"You can sit by me." A guy near the end of the table offered.

My heart sped up, and it took everything in my power not to gasp. He was hot. Really hot. His eyes were a beautiful blue, and his dark hair curled in an adorable way. I wanted him, and I would have him.

Shrugging, I sat down next to him, setting my food down in front of me. His spot wasn't exactly near Venus, who seemed to be the center of attention, but that was fine.

"I'm Erik," he introduced himself. "I'm a third former, like you."

I smiled politely back at him. "I'm Aphrodite LaFont."

"Aphrodite," Erik said in a lowered tone, "the goddess of love."

I flashed him a flirty smile, and placed my hand on his shoulder, trying to catch his gaze. "I might have a few skills in that department," I murmured back at him.

Erik looked at me with wide eyes, or so I thought it was at me. Glancing over my shoulder, I caught Venus throwing daggers at me with her icy eyes. I returned it with the flirty smile I gave Erik, before turning back to him.

"Scared of Venus?" I laughed at the thought.

Squirming a little under my stare, Erik nodded.

I leaned in close, keeping my gaze on his pretty blue eyes. Our breath mixed together, feeling warm against my skin. My hand dropped from his shoulder onto his upper arm, and I leaned closer, pressing my lips against his. Erik kept his hands respectfully at his sides, but he did kiss me back, until I pulled away a few moments later.

"I'd better go," Erik said, abandoning his plate and exiting the room without another look at me.

I stared after him, while Venus gave me a triumphant smirk.

Oh, how I wanted to wipe it off her face.


	3. Chapter 3-Late Night

**Chapter Three**

**~Late Night~**

After dinner ended, I sat alone on my bed in my room. I didn't know where Venus was-I'd left shortly after Erik did.

I felt hollow inside. Everything in the school was so unfamiliar, which left me feeling alone and homesick. I didn't have any friends to confide in, and no matter how frustrated I was with Venus, I still wanted her to be there for me. Wasn't that why people had best friends in the first place?

My eyes filled with tears, which I quickly blinked away. I wouldn't let myself cry. My parents had taught me better than to feel sorry for myself-the mayor of Tulsa sure as hell didn't cry. Crying would only make me feel worse, anyway.

A brisk knock sounded on my door, and my face scrunched in confusion. Who would knock on my door? Venus would just walk in. After all, it was her room too, and we were beyond knocking, having been friends for so long.

I got off my bed slowly, and opened the door to reveal Neferet standing outside, paper in hand.

"Good evening, Aphrodite. May I come in?"

Opening the door wider, I nodded, stepping aside so she could enter. "Of course."

"I hope I'm not interrupting your evening, but I wanted to give you your schedule. I had forgotten to give it to you earlier. My apologies." She handed the paper to me.

I looked at my schedule, which surprisingly had classes that didn't seem too difficult. There wasn't any math, which was like a gift from Nyx herself. Then I noticed the date was from before I was ever marked, which spooked me out. A lot.

"Thank you," I smiled sweetly. "I'll be needing this for tomorrow."

Neferet returned my smile. "Our school holds to regular school hours, although, as you know, the time is reversed. Classes are from nine PM to three AM, Monday to Friday. You've been placed in the same classes as Venus. Who is where, by the way? Roommates are usually inseparable."

I let out a sigh of frustration, and Neferet motioned for me to sit on the bed, while she remained standing. I sat down heavily, and looked to my mentor. She looked at me expectantly, and I stared at her for a moment longer before realizing she wanted me to explain the reason behind my sigh.

"I know, this can be overwhelming." She prompted. "But with time, it becomes much easier to adjust to a life of vampirism."

"Oh, no. Its not that." I blurted out. "Venus and I are kind of fighting, but not really. It's really just stupid, I guess."

"I'm your mentor, you can tell me anything you wish, Aphrodite." She smiled her motherly smile.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I looked away from her and nodded, my hand moving to the heart necklace-a gift from my parents.

"Erik sat with me at lunch. Venus must've been angered by it, or something. She didn't say anything, but she did give me some pretty nasty looks." I looked over at Neferet, whose look of sympathy both upset me and comforted me.

"I don't believe it would be wise for you to get involved in a serious relationship, Aphrodite. While there are no rules prohibiting two fledgings from dating, I've seen it cause massive amounts of trauma, especially when one fledging's body rejects the change."

As a vampyre fledging, we all ran the risk of our bodies rejecting the change. It wasn't something we could prevent, and it seemed more than unfair. We didn't choose to be marked in the first place, and then after we had to live in fear of blood pouring out of our orifices until we died. Nyx had a sick sense of humor, if you asked me.

"Thank you," I smiled. "Thats really great advice." I added sincerely.

"I've been around a long time. I've picked up a thing or two." She winked, and we both laughed.

Just as the clock on the wall was about to hit 9 AM, Venus flung the door open and held up a bottle of wine triumphantly.

"I brought you a little something." She explained as she handed the bottle to me.

It didn't look like the expensive wine I was used to, but it was still wine. There was never a wrong time to have a couple of drinks.

"Close the door!" I hissed at Venus, my eyes widening in fear of her being caught with it.

Smirking at me, she grabbed the knob of the door and shut it quietly. The soft _click_ was hardly audible.

"I told ya earlier we're allowed to drink that stuff here, silly."

"You're starting to sound like an Oklahoman bumpkin." I snorted at Venus, who flopped down beside me on the bed as I opened the wine bottle.

"Where are the glasses?" I questioned my best friend.

This time, it was Venus's turn to snort. Taking the bottle of wine from my hands, she tilted her head back and took a long swig of it. I thought she was going to choke from the amount of liquid she gulped down.

"That's disgusting." I informed her. "If you're going to drink from the bottle, at least drink like a lady."

I grabbed the bottle from her with one hand and chugged down the drink, holding my other hand out in a fist, my pinky finger sticking up as if I were going to make a promise.

Venus let out a wild laugh, and flung her long, blonde hair over her shoulder. "If you want to be a lady, you have to talk like one too." She said in a very awful, fake British accent.

I laughed outrageously and handed Venus the bottle, in fear of spilling it everywhere.

"My mother would kill me if she knew I was behaving so unladylike." I rolled my eyes. "She should really get that stick out of her ass."

"Beth-Rose! Don't you dare spill anything on your three thousand dollar blouse!" Venus mocked my mother, sending us both into a fit of laughter.

We continued to laugh about everything and everyone, until our sides couldn't take anymore pain, and exhaustion began to set in.

Tossing the empty wine bottle in the trash, Venus cursed. "Aw, crap. It's eleven, and we have school tomorrow."

I yawned. "We'll survive, though I should sleep before I pass out. I've been awake for too long."

The sun shone brightly in through the window, and I was surprised to find my eyes were already becoming sensitive to the light. I hadn't been a fledging long, but I was already beginning to change.

"Close the curtains before you sleep," I ordered before rolling onto my side and falling asleep.


End file.
